Historically, categorizing human personalities into a few main groups has been controversial because humans are so unique and diverse. However, you can draw many similarities from them in terms of personality traits and overall temperaments. In 325 BC, Aristotle wrote of hedonic, proprietary, dialectical, and ethical temperaments.[31] In 190 AD, Galen spoke of the following four temperaments:[32]

Sanguine

Fun, life of the party, social, affectionate, emotional, struggles with follow-through, late, and forgetful

Choleric

A doer, ambitious, energetic, passionate, and a dominating personality

Melancholic

Thoughtful, kind, considerate, highly creative, can be preoccupied with tragedy in the world (depression), perfectionist, loner

Phlegmatic

Self-content, shy, resistant to change, relaxed, rational, curious, observant, more dependable friend

In his 1921 book Psychological Types, Carl Jung theorized that humans use four functions when dealing with the world.[33] These are sensing, intuiting, thinking, and feeling. All humans have these functions in different proportions. Jung also noted the distinction between introversion and extroversion in personality types:

  • Introverts have an inward focus, with a strong sense of self and feelings.

  • Extroverts have a focus on the outside world.

Combining Jung’s four functions with the two personality types yields 16 different personalities. Of course, this does not mean a human must fall into just one of these 16 types. You can consider these personality types as realms humans function within—one may overlap another more or less. In the early 1950s, David Keirsey established a relationship between the 16 different personality types and the four temperaments by Galen and Plato. Keirsey focused on human behavior and divided the four temperaments as follows:[34]

The next section will give you a general concept of the four temperaments in the process of persona creation.

Each temperament requires careful consideration of the copy, tone, layout, and navigational structure of the website being studied. Each of your personas will have one or more of these temperaments because, as we mentioned, humans fall into two or often three of the different temperaments. For most websites, you will find that creating four to seven primary personas with a mix of temperaments will serve your needs. However, depending on the complexity of the site, you might include secondary personas to reflect a more holistic consideration of all the visitors to your site.

Let’s take a closer look at the four temperaments and adapt them to the online world so that we can see what each requires.

As the name suggests, this persona trusts logic and is meticulous, methodical, and detail-oriented in nature. This persona is skeptical, self-contained, and focused on problem-solving. Someone with a logical persona will carefully read the instruction manual before assembling an item. He will want to know the process for solving a problem. This persona comprises as much as 40% to 45% of the population.[35]

A logical persona wants to understand every little detail about your product or service. This type of person will read page after page of information on your site. He is also the visitor who will leave your site if you fail to present answers to his questions in a logical, systematic, and easy-to-locate fashion. You can expect a logical persona to pay close attention to your methodology pages, your product or service description, technical details of your website, and your “About Us” page. A logical persona will scroll down to the end of your page. This is the persona that will do the research to find the answers.

A logical persona takes a long time to make a purchasing decision. In the meantime, this type of person will “shop around,” bookmarking your site to monitor any developments or new offers, and reading your blog or newsletter.

This persona is turned off by vague terminology. Someone with this persona is skeptical, so you should provide him with concrete evidence as to why your service or product is his best choice and how it will solve his problems. Since someone with a logical persona will read many details on your website and spend the most time on it, your page should address this persona last.

An impulsive persona is focused on the here and now. This type of person is spontaneous, optimistic, and unconventional, will take on tasks others might consider risky, and will do whatever it takes to accomplish her goals. This persona comprises as much as 30% to 35% of the population.[36]

Someone with an impulsive persona will browse the Web with her credit card in hand. However, converting her to a customer will only happen if you lay out all the information and next steps in a clear manner. This type of person can be your best or worst customer because as quickly as the conversion can happen with her, it could unravel in the same amount of time. You generally have few seconds to convince an impulsive prospect to stay on your website or to consider your products or services.

To capitalize on this temperament, it’s important to provide quick benefits of the product or service being offered. You must also test which benefits resonate best with this persona type (the benefits that resonate best with the impulsive persona may vary from those that resonate with the aggressive persona). These people are turned off by lengthy paragraphs, so consider bullet points to capture their attention. Also, they hate dealing with traditional details, so providing them with general information will satisfy their curiosity. Additionally, provide those with an impulsive persona an easy way to contact your company or to “proceed to checkout” by offering clear call-to-action buttons. If they have to look around, or if you ask too many questions on a contact form, they are likely to leave your website.

Those with an impulsive persona make their purchase decision quickly. They are undisciplined in considering different alternatives. Since they scan your website quickly, you should address them second on your page.